It is located along Interstate 15 approximately 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Mesquite, Nevada.

Beaver Dam and the neighboring communities of Littlefield, Scenic and Desert Springs have the distinction of being the only towns in Arizona along I-15.

Owing to their location in the Arizona Strip, northwest of the Grand Canyon and west of the Virgin River, they are isolated by hundreds of miles from the rest of the state.

Beaver Dam Wash and subsequently the town were named for the many beaver dams that occupied and held back the waters on the wash when the first Mormon party under Jefferson Hunt established the wagon road through the area in 1847.

Owing to its location northwest of Grand Canyon National Park and west of the Virgin River, Beaver Dam is essentially isolated from the rest of the state.

[4] With the combination of all 35 county districts into 3 in 1940, it did not formally appear again until 2010, when it was made a census-designated place (CDP).